Bull Rider by Williams Suzanne Morgan

Author:Williams, Suzanne Morgan [Williams, Suzanne Morgan]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published: 2009-02-11T05:00:00+00:00

Grandma and Grandpa, Lali, and me left the hospital early to let Mom and Dad have time to talk with Ben. Lali fell asleep in the motel room, and I went down to the truck to get my skateboard. “Take the cell phone,” Grandpa said. “Don’t go far, and call if you need us.”

Finally, I was out the door, free, and pumping down the street. The wheels sang in my ears. How long since I’d been loose on my board and with all this concrete? I jumped off the curb. I skated along a main street for a while, but the cars were everywhere, so I turned up a side street. The vibrations from the wheels buzzed up through the board to my feet. A couple of blocks in, I saw two kids on skateboards. One was tall with red hair, and the short one was Asian. I called to them. “Is there a skate park around here?”

“No, we use the parking lot at the mini-mart. They don’t care, unless the owner’s there.”

“So where’s that?”

They looked me over. I’m guessing they were trying to figure if I was worth their time. “You any good?” the taller one asked.

“I can ride,” I said.

He picked up his board and spun the wheels around. “Where do you live?”

Now this could be tricky. Salt Lick wasn’t exactly glamorous. “Nevada,” I said.

“Nevaahda?” The way he said it grated on my ears. “What are you doing here?”

“Visiting my brother,” I said.

“So where’s he live?”

Instead of answering, I started down the street on my board. “Where’s that mini-mart?” They got on their boards and swerved around me to lead the way. I followed.

The mini-mart lot was big and almost empty. We drifted around it for a while and then I started doing some tricks. The taller kid stopped to watch. I did a kickflip across the concrete at the front of a parking spot, jumped up on the curb, and cruised to a stop in front of the mini-mart door, right next to the NO BIKES, NO SKATEBOARDS sign.

“So how long are you staying at your brother’s house?” he asked.

“Not long, we’re leaving tomorrow.”

“Well, are you coming back?” he asked. He looked excited, like we could board again.

“Yeah, I’ll be back. He’s in the VA hospital, getting therapy.”

The kid’s jaw dropped. “So, what happened to him?”

“An IED hit him in Iraq.”

“A what?” the short one asked.

“IED—improvised explosive device. A street bomb.”

They both stared at me. “Iraq? No way! How’d he get stuck going over there?”

“It was his orders.”

The short kid frowned. “Man, I wouldn’t go. You couldn’t get me in the army for a million dollars. I might go to Canada.”

“They don’t make you join the military, stupid,” the tall kid said. “Not yet, anyway. This kid’s brother had to sign up. That’s sick.”

I pushed my fingernails into my palms. No one talked like that about Ben. “He’s a Marine. He’s protecting you.”

“Not anymore. He’s in the hospital, right?”

“And he got there protecting you.”

The tall guy glared at me.

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